Repaired, but Broken
by AquaCapricorn
Summary: The defective Pearl can be reprogrammed. With such a faulty program, why hasn't anybody tried to do this before? Peridot hatches a scheme to get her escape pod back, by reprogramming Pearl's natural servant-class program to serve her. However, when the attempt goes poorly, Pearl is restore to her "factory default", and the Gems are left with a repaired, but lost Pearl. My first fic
1. Chapter 1: A Plan

_The defective Pearl can be reprogrammed. With such a defective program, why hasn't anybody tried to do this before? Peridot hatches a scheme to get her escape pod back, by reprogramming Pearl's natural servant-class program to serve her. However, when the attempt goes poorly, Pearl is restore to her "factory default", and the Gems are left with a repaired, but lost Pearl._

 _(Note: This story was made after Friend Ship aired, during the hiatus. This story is not 100% canon accurate. It dives pretty deep into head-canon (Rose is Pink Diamond's successor, etc)_

 _However, it does contain MAJOR spoilers for several episode, so go make sure you've watched up to Friend Ship.)_

Peridot frowned, her mouth stuck in a grimace as usual. It had been over 200 log-dates since she was trapped on this miserable chunk of rock called "Earth". Why those Crystal Gems protected it so dearly she didn't know, but it probably had something to do with this "Steven" creature. Her only comfort was knowing Yellow Diamond may come for her... one day. For now, she was stuck, stranded for all she cared.

Peridot stepped through the thick brush, staying hidden. She learned several log-dates ago that whenever she used a Warp-Pad, the gems would be right behind her. Rubbing the stub that used to be her cybernetic foot, she wondered at what else she could do to contact Yellow Diamond. She had done everything she could think of so far.. yet no response.

If only there were a way to get her Escape Pod back from them. She could probably repair it, assuming the gem's haven't already. Then a thought hit her. The programming room at Facet Eight. It seemed rather obvious in hindsight. The Pearl was made to obey higher-class gems such as herself. Reprogram the Pearl, and get her to retrieve the escape pod. Then, well, Peridot would make sure there would be one less Crystal Gem to get rid of.

Now, to warp to that forsaken place.

 _Several minutes later..._

Pearl folded and put away one of Steven's shirts, which he had left laying about the room. She really had to talk to him about keeping the house tidy. The tiny gem was nowhere to be seen, and as far as she could tell, it was only her and Amethyst in the temple currently. Suddenly, Steven walked in, a slightly bloody bruise on his elbow. It looked slightly wet, as if he had tried his healing spit on it, but his powers had failed again.

Pearl couldn't help but feel a little worried. " _Steven!_ Are you ok!?" She said, looking at the bruise. She quickly got out a pack of Band-Aids from her gem, something she always kept stored for "emergencies".

"I'm fine, I just tripped on the sidewalk." Said Steven. Pearl delicately put the Band-Aid on his elbow, and seemed to mellow out slightly once the small amount of bleeding had stopped. " Thanks. Hey Pearl, is Peridot's escape pod glowing over there?"

 _Hmm?_ It seemed she had gotten a little carried away over such a minor injury, so much so that she had almost ignored that Peridot had used a warp. It has been a while since that pod had lit up. Peridot must be up to something. She quickly ran over to the pod, and put her hand over the floating display, watching pieces of data flash into her eyes and out of her gem.

 _Kindergarten._ A sense of dread filled Pearl's mind. She thought Peridot had already gotten what she needed from there. Why would she be back? To turn on the Injectors? She had to let the others know. "Amethyst! Garnet! Peridot is warping!" Amethyst came out of her room, eager for action.

"Finally!" Said Amethyst, leaping onto the Warp Pad, before her expression turned from excitement to a feeling of regret. "Kindergarten?!"

"Yes, I think she might be turning on the Injectors, we need to hurry!" Said Pearl. Steven followed her, climbing onto the pad and activating the warp stream. A bright blue beam enveloped the team, swiftly taking them to the Kindergarten.

Kindergarten was cloudy and dark. The ground was grey and lifeless. As all Kindergartens were and will always be. The group spread out, Amethyst and Pearl searching each Facet in numerical order, while Steven wandered off, all the way to the entrance of Facet Eight.

Steven seemed to have a penchant for finding Peridot. It didn't take all that long before he noticed the green gem slowly descending into the control room using her helicopter-fingers. "I found you!" He said in a playful tone, as if this were a game of hide and seek. Peridot let out a sigh.

"Yes, you found me. I assume the others will be here soon?" She said. Steven ran to get the gems, while Peridot snuck into Facet Eight's control room.

It was a dark orange room, with a circular yellow gem-like object in the middle of the room. A control panel was hidden behind a secured lead door, so the newly-birthed Ambers couldn't break through it or read the mind of the controller. On one side in another room, an Amber Factory, where Ambers used to be manufactured, well, until their psychic powers proved too much for the Homeworld to control. The other side, another lead door. The programming rooms.

A pounding noise had begun on those levels. Surely it was the Crystal Clods. Locking the lead door, Peridot turned on her controller.

 _On the first room of Facet Eight..._

"She locked the door!" Said Pearl, hitting her spear against a sliding door that had closed behind them. Suddenly, the background seemed familiar. Dark oranges, a door leading to a main hall and an Amber Factory down that hall. This was Facet Eight. Suddenly, a screen projection appeared. The unfortunately familiar face of Peridot.

"You clods fell right into my trap! You really are as dull as dirt!" Said Peridot, taking a brief moment to laugh at the clods before her. However, she didn't appear to have the full bunch. The magenta one was missing. No matter, the Pearl was still there. One less person to find out about her scheme.

"What are you even going to do to us in here? This Facet's factory has been broken for over 5000 years! You don't have any Ambers to fight us with!" Said Pearl. She summoned her spear, and Amethyst already had her whip out.

Peridot laughed again, slightly deranged. "This!" She summoned up the security measures from the control room, watching the gems scatter as the laser beams pushed them away from each other. The lights went out, only the laser beams giving any light. Intentionally pushing the Pearl towards the main hall, she had to resist laughing in glee as she was separated from the Steven and the Amethyst. They really were dull clods.

Pearl was alone, in a dark hallway. Lighting up her gems, she could see the remains of the old Amber factory. Why would Peridot choose this Facet of all ten? She could have easily chosen Nine, where there were still vast supplies of weapons. But Eight! The dreadful abusive place where Ambers, low-class servants made to serve as psychic fighters were made and forced to fight. Peridot must really be losing her mind.

"Steven! Where are you?" Said Pearl, turning around. In front of one of the lead doors, there was Steven, running into the room for shelter. "Steven!" She said, dashing into the room. It was dark, yet even in this darkness she could see "Steven". Except it was not him. As she reached out, her hand went right through the figure. The door locked behind her, leaving her with "Steven", which soon disappeared in a flash of green light. The lights slowly came back on.

"Do you know what this room is? Or are you so blind as to not recognize where Homeworld should have sent you, you defective pile of dirt?" Said Peridot, turning on the room. The sides of the room glowed with a bright orange light. It pulsed with light, and it quickly focused onto Pearl's gem, getting ready to start the reprogramming.

Pearl's eyes widened. They had tried to send her here once. The process was painful, and sometimes cracked, or even broke gems. Reprogramming. Rose saved her from this fate, which would now befall her. This must be how Homeworld got the Ambers to fight. "Curse you, Peridot. You are lower than dirt if you intend to use this horrible machine." Spat Pearl, quickly searching for a way out.

"I'm sorry, clod, but your pathetic appeals to morality are a sign of your defect." Said Peridot. "Now starting up Facet Eight programming Room 01..."


	2. Chapter 2: Deformation

The laser was drawing close, Amethyst could almost feel her form shimmering and shaking as the hot beam drew closer. The tip of her foot turned a glowing white as the laser began to de-stabilize it. Suddenly, Steven came running by, his bubble shield enveloping her. The beam deflected off of it, going back to the vile machine that projected the beam. "Are you ok?" He said.

Amethyst's foot quickly re-stabilized itself. She took a moment to relax, before taking a quick look around. "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, where's Pearl?" Said Amethyst. Steven gazed at the door, partially scorched by the beam that couldn't go through it. She must have taken shelter in there.

The lights slowly lit back up, and Amethyst swore she could hear muffled talking coming from one of the doors. Her stomach sank when she saw where this was. _The Amber Factory._ She remembered seeing the orange gems being dragged off, along with other Amethysts like herself, being forced into war perhaps. It was scary, and Amethyst always hid away when the big gems came to take more gems to the war. She quickly shuffled by the miniature injectors stashed in the factory.

"Hurry up, Steven." She harshly whispered, tugging Steven along. Steven appeared uneasy, but not nearly as much as dark corridor was half ruins and half a maze of inactive rooms. One of them was locked. It said, in neat letters: "Room 01". Suddenly, the room flashed with light and Amethyst recoiled from a horrid noise that came from within.

It was a noise of pure agony, loud and piercing, followed by the familiar noise of a gem's body poofing away. Whatever happened in there, Peridot had definitely poofed Pearl in a very, very painful way. Steven gasped, and crept behind Amethyst, his hands reaching for his gem as if the very noise he just heard was hurting him.

Amethyst was reluctant to touch the door, but she knew she had to save Pearl. Pearl was honestly one of the few things that kept her sane, even if Pearl could be uptight and boring sometimes. Amethyst began ramming the door, while Steven seemed to be hiding behind her, his eyes wet with tears.

 _Inside the control room..._

Peridot loaded up the room's file memory. Lines and lines of data and different gem defaults were present on the memory. Information about defective Ambers, defective Amethysts and defective Emeralds mostly. However, these rooms were equipped to fix every kind of mistake, just not the mistakes of the gems who were made here. With an operating crew for Kindergarten so large, it was no wonder a defect or two was brought here.

She wished she was here when all of this tech was new and cutting-edge, not falling apart. The menu was incredibly cluttered, but Peridot finally found a "Pearl Default". A household and spaceship servant. Bah. Peridot's were much more advanced than petty housework and ship repairs. But it would serve her purposes. Pressing the button to start the reprogramming, she saw streams of data flow into the Pearl's gem. Now to add a few lines of code, to make sure the Pearl would obey only her...

 _Inside "Room 01"..._

The door slammed open, the hinges letting out a roar as Amethyst bolted into the room. Four beams of light, one on each side of the room, were directed at Pearl's gem, suspended in mid-air. Streams and streaks of light blue would dart into the gem, and the gem would spasm and strain under the pressure of the beams. Amethyst quickly summoned her whips, smashing one of the conductors.

Pearl's gem fell from the beams, and Steven dove down to catch it. Several beams of light green dashed through the empty beams, and Amethyst smashed them like she di the others. "What you clods doing in here!? That laser should have destabilized you! Wait-.." Peridot, looking through a small screen in the corner of the room, glared at Steven. "YOU! UGH, why does nothing work against you, Steven!? Why do you have that shield!?" Screamed Peridot.

There was a rattling noise as Peridot left the screen, like keys scratching metal, and soon the lights shut off again. Amethyst ran, no, charged into the hallways. Steven put Pearl's gem into his pocket and followed.

Peridot grinned, her touch-stubs starting to form a helicopter. "Don't you gems ever learn? I'm too fast and too smart for you!" She said in the darkness. Amethyst shape-shifted into an owl, and desperately tried to seek Peridot out in the darkness, but Peridot was fast and good at hiding. Peridot laughed, a deranged, almost comical noise. Then, a hard pink object hit her, knocking her out of the air.

 _POOF!_

Peridot had landed.. wrong. Her body couldn't handle the impact, especially with all her heavy gear making landing tough. Suddenly, a fizzling mist filled the air, and Peridot's gem was on the ground, along with her arms and legs, which appeared to be cybernetic implants. They fell to the floor with a heavy _CLANK!_ Amethyst bubbled Peridot's gem, and sent it back to the temple so they could decide what to do with her later. The main concern right now was getting Pearl back and checking for damage.

 _Around 3 hours later..._

Steven was slumped over on the couch, looking at Pearl's gem. Garnet still wasn't back, this must be one of her longer missions, or perhaps a search for Malachite. As far as he and Amethyst could tell, her gem was fine, just a bit hot from the rays. However, Steven was still sad. Last time Pearl had tried to regenerate, it took over two weeks. Amethyst's door opened, and she came up to the gem.

"Aw, come out P, stop messing with us!" Said Amethyst, poking the gem.

"But last time-" Began Steven, before Amethyst abruptly cut him off.

"Last time she tried to regenerate, that Holo-Pearl was preventing her from doing that." Said Amethyst. "But when Garnet saw that and we went to destroy it, it wasn't there. So Pearl SHOULD be out by now. This time she's probably just messing around over which color her socks should be or something."

A few moments later, a glow began to emit from Pearl's gem, and it rose up into the air.

"Finally." Said Amethyst, laying back and kicking her feet up.

"Pearl's back! Oh, she's never going to believe that we caught Peridot!" Said Steven, his eyes lighting up in stars like they sometimes did. Pearl said she found it adorable, and it reminded her of Rose.

A shape emerged from the gemstone, going through the forms Pearl had previously been in, then abruptly shifting back to her default form. The light faded slowly. Pearl was in powdery blue jumpsuit that didn't include her arms or neck. It looked much like the old projections of war Pearl would show Amethyst when she was young and loved hearing about the war that she had never seen. She was wearing pink socks and turquoise shoes. Unlike in the projections, she had her shawl wrapped around her torso, and her turquoise top was absent, revealing a pink diamond where it was before.

Steven stared at Pearl for a little bit. The tall, white gem seemed almost zoned out. Her blue eyes, which usually looked a bit like a pool of water, seemed almost glazed over, frozen in place. Her rigid stance bared an uncanny resemblance to Holo-Pearl. Amethyst looked equally confused and upset. Steven reached out to hug Pearl, as if the power of a hug would change everything back to normal. Except it didn't. Pearl recoiled, her eyes suddenly fixating on Steven.

"W-where? Who are you? Where is Pink Diamond?"


	3. Chapter 3: Pink Diamond

"Where is Pink Diamond?" Stated Pearl again, this time her words more spread apart, as if she were speaking to a simple child.

"Pearl, are you alright?" Said Steven.

"Where. Is. Pink. Diamond?" Pearl seemed almost one-minded in pursue of the answer to that question. Amethyst put her hand on Pearl's shoulder, as if restraining the gem who was on the verge of trembling.

"Pearl, Pink Diamond isn't here! Pink Diamond would have you killed! Don't you remember anything!?" Said Amethyst, remembering Pearl's old tales about Homeworld, how Pink Diamond was going to send her to reprogramming, how Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond's second-in-command, saved her. Why would Pearl want to find Pink Diamond? Pink Diamond was smashed, dead. Now Amethyst was starting to get worried. "For goodness sakes Pearl, Pink Diamond is _DEAD_!"

"Nonsense. Seeing how she is however, absent as far as I can tell, I shall serve you, Rose Quartz. However, I recommend you alert my presence to Pink Diamond as soon as possible." Said Pearl, eyeing the gem on Steven's stomach that had become visible for just a second. Her eyes resumed their glazed-over look, no longer filled with this air of denial, but instead, one of blind servitude. Steven shuffled behind Amethyst, as Pearl's eyes seemed to follow his gemstone.

"Pearl, stop joking around! You're scaring Steven. Not saying that isn't hilarious, but you're beginning to scare me!" Said Amethyst, hand ready to summon her weapon. Something was.. very off about Pearl. What did Peridot do to her in there?

"I don't like how you refer to me as Pearl. A simple servant as me doesn't deserve such a name. Call me Unit-1052." Said Pearl, delicately shoving Amethyst out of the way and bowing before Steven. " Rose, will you have me keep this house?"

"Unit-1052?" Said Amethyst, bolting up from her fall. "Oh no.. Did Peridot-"

"Pearl, snap out of it! Please!" Said Steven, hugging her. Pearl did not actively recoil, but instead stood completely still for a moment, like a computer that didn't know how to respond. Heck, Amethyst bet that if she could look in her head right now, there would be a bunch of gears turning inside.

"I'm sorry.. I do not understand this gesture. Why are you wrapping your arms around me? I should inform you Pearls are not suited for combat nor roughhousing." Said Pearl. Amethyst made some distance between Pearl and Steven.

"Steven, why don't you go to bed? I need to have a talk with Ms. Robot over here." Said Amethyst. Pearl once again stopped as if she didn't quite understand what sleep was. Steven tried to utter a but, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything, instead climbing up onto his bed. Pearl followed him, her steps light and elegant as usual, but still unusually robotic in nature.

"I do not see the benefit of this activity." Said Pearl.

"Humans need it to live, genius." Said Amethyst.

"Blending in. Smart strategy Rose. I'm sorry for doubting." Said Pearl, registering that she was on a foreign planet and not Homeworld. She turned to Amethyst. "Do you permit me to speak to this Amethyst, Rose?"

Steven was getting slightly unnerved by how often Pearl called him Rose. Sure, before she would accidently slip up every now and again, but this was deliberate. As if Pearl thought he really was Rose herself. Pearl didn't seem like she was really there anymore. It was like talking to a stranger wearing your mother's face. He just wanted to fall asleep, and forget about this. "Yes." Said Steven, rolling over. Maybe this was just a bad dream, and he would wake and see Pearl back to normal tomorrow.

"I have been permitted." Said Pearl. She walked over to Amethyst. "What do wish of me?"

"Pearl, do you remember anything, anything at all before you regenerated in this house?" Said Amethyst.

"I was made on Homeworld, in an early Pearl Factory. I am unit 1052 of model B9.5. I was made. To serve Pink Diamond, maintain a safe spaceship enviroment and to help establish and maintain Kindergarten colonies." Said Pearl.

The mention of Kindergarten sent shivers down Amethyst's spine. "Anything else? Anything about Steven? Rose's rebellion? Me? Garnet?"

More silence, more gears spinning. "Rose wouldn't rebel, not against our glorious leader. Who is Steven, and who is Garnet?" Said Pearl.

"Pearl, Rose, Garnet and you fought Pink Diamond thousands of years ago. She and her army were defeated, and last you heard of her, she was smashed in combat! Don't you remember any of this?! Then Rose shut down Kindergarten and found me!" Said Amethyst. "Rose fell in love with a human, Greg.. She got pregnant.. Do you remember? Rose died to bring about Steven, you know, the little boy you just saw. That's her gem in his stomach-" Amethyst stopped. Probably not the best thing to tell Pearl, in this state.

"Steven..?" Her voice, quite flat, appeared dissonant with her actions. Her hands appeared to rising up to her face, whether to grasp her head or her weapon Amethyst couldn't tell. She looked over to Steven, restless in his bed. Slowly though, her hands fell down, and Pearl's calm stance returned. "No.. I don't think.. I was sent to planet Earth."

Amethyst groaned. Peridot must have done a rather through job. "Listen, just get some rest. Garnet isn't going to be happy..." Amethyst could see Garnet crushing Peridot's gem over this. Or at least she could see Ruby doing it.

Pearl fell onto the floor, her eyes folding shut in one clean stroke. Her body was flat like a plank across the ground.

"Sleep, dammit." Said Amethyst. This thing on the floor was not Pearl. She couldn't see it as Pearl, not like this. Pearl wouldn't set up a Kindergarten, Pearl wouldn't even think about killing Steven (well, at least not after the first rough year after Rose's departure), Pearl wouldn't.. be this sort of mechanical thing. Was this how Homeworld saw the lower-class gems? Things? It was frustrating, and Amethyst could almost feel the sting at heart. Is this what she was supposed to be too? A thing?

Pearl fell asleep quickly, right in the middle of the house, on the floor.

 _Inside a dream, projected through hologram.._

Unit 1052 didn't see the point of this activity.

It was worthless, useless.

Nobody was watching. It was just for the human.

That "Steven" thing, was what the Amethyst said true? A blurred picture had started to form inside of Unit 1052's head. She saw a battlefield, and a single gem atop it. Rose Quartz. Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't explain it. Was she dying? Was what Pink Diamond said true? Defects die without treatment? She was pushed to the top of the hill. This dream felt.. odd. She could feel, smell the air, the bloodshed.

"Rose. We did it, we won." She heard someone else say in her voice. Another Pearl, perhaps even herself. Rose reached out like Steven did before he wrapped his arms around her. Another beat skipped. _RUN YOU FOOL YOU ARE DYING! FIND PINK DIAMOND YOU DEFECT!_ Unit 1052 wanted to scream. Why wasn't this Pearl afraid? Rose embraced her in the same gentle gesture, and suddenly, the scene changed.

"Steven" was hugging the Pearl. She let out a strangled breath, as her tears were let to flow freely. Unit 1052 could feel the tears running down, a repressed anger at losing someone being released. This Pearl was obviously a defect! Why.. why.. why? Unit 1052's mind couldn't comprehend why a Pearl would want this defective life, of pain and misery. She could feel it, and it made her feel impure. Defective.

She awoke with a choked breath, tears in her eyes. She didn't want to sleep again. It would be better to house-keep while the human slept, to put her mind off of this nightmare she just saw. More productive. Less defective. A defective gem is as good as a dead one, and Unit 1052 didn't want to be a dead one.

Maybe it was truly herself, but her programming led her to believe otherwise. This was defect, not a faithful servant of Pink Diamond like herself. Was the Amethyst gem right?

No, she couldn't be.

Even if she was, all was fine now. She was no longer defective.

All was fine.

Yes.


	4. Chapter 4: Kindergarten

_((Now for a long, long chapter, to make up for my absence))_

 _The next day..._

Steven woke up, after a long night of restless sleep. When his eyes opened, he found them staring into the hollow eyes of a Holo-Pearl. He shrieked. Suddenly, Pearl came dashing over. It's good to see some things haven't changed. Steven's house was full of Holo-Pearls, around 6 of them, each one picking the house clean of any dust or impurities. " Is everything alright, Rose-.." A brief pause in her voice. "..Steven." Said Pearl. The utterance of Steven slid off her tongue with a hard shiver, almost in distaste.

"I'm fine." Said Steven, backing away from the Holo-Pearl, instead going to the real Pearl. "You don't look like you got much rest." Pearl's eyes hid dark bags beneath them. The house was so _dirty.. so impure... so disgusting!_ She couldn't help but organize and clean everything. 6 Holo-Pearls for over 8 hours had really put a strain on her. The Steven boy seemed concerned. He shouldn't be.

Amethyst came out of her room, and dragged Pearl along. "Pearl, Garnet's back, she wants to see you." Pearl's eyes blinked once.

"My database doesn't register a "Garnet". I advise you that I have no fighting programs and I am unsuitable for other Sectors." Said Pearl. "Garnet" was not a Pink Diamond Sector gem, nor a part of the proposed Earth colony.

"UGH! Just come with me! We aren't fighting." Said Amethyst. She tugged on Pearl's arm.

"Rose, do you permit me to speak to the Garnet?" Said Pearl.

Steven frowned, and backed away from Pearl. It wasn't a bad dream. She was really gone inside. "Yes." He said, going to get some breakfast. Everything had taken a sudden dip for the worse, and he needed to get his mind away from it. Maybe he would hang out with Connie later today.

 _In Pearl's Room..._

Pearl was dragged into a watery room. It vaguely resembled a Pearl factory, in the sense that the room was covered in circles of water, but the water here flowed in lively patterns, the floating platforms were open to the air and the room gave off a feeling of looking to impress. _Vanity, another defective weakness._ Thought Unit 1052. In the middle of the room, on top of one of the spires, stood a tall Magenta gem. Unit 1052 glanced at her hands. _A fusion!_

"Do you have no shame?!" Said Unit 1052. Those gems were Ruby and Sapphire. An upper-class gem like Sapphire mingling with a.. R-... Ruby? Unbelievable, and incredibly defective. If she could contact Pink Diamond right now. "I should report you this instance if you don't defuse."

The Garnet gave a stern expression, yet Amethyst could almost see the turmoil raging within the fusion . "Pearl, calm down." She said.

"Last warning, defuse, or I will report you." Said Unit 1052. She grasped for anything, any technology on her, but found nothing. Her optical nerves have indicated that the Amethyst had left the room.

Garnet didn't defuse, even as Ruby and Sapphire bathed in a relentless wave of self-doubt. They could have prevented this. She saw it in some distant, seemingly far away future, yet she left to defeat a Gem monster she could have easily dealt with tomorrow. One that proved more trouble to catch than it was causing. Yet she left them, and now that possibility was reality. They could have prevented- _Keep yourself together, Garnet. It wasn't your fault, it was Peridot's._

"So be it." Said Unit 1052, starting to walk away. "I will go on with my assigned duties, and I will report you if you aren't back to default form by the next sun." Garnet grabbed Unit 1052's shoulder. Her stone-cold muscles tensed.

"Pearl. I-" Began Garnet. She didn't exactly know what to say. She knew what happened, but now she was at a blank. So many futures, Pearl dying, Pearl killing Steven, Peridot escaping, Amethyst dying.. So many terrible possibilities, and yet, as far as she looked, no solution for Pearl's condition. Ruby started to cry in frustration and anger, while Sapphire focused on keeping Garnet's increasingly unstable bonds together. They grasped each others hands, and Garnet hugged herself, a couple of tears dropping from her red eye, but even the blue one was starting to give up to her feelings.

"Why are you crying?" Said Unit 1052. This fusion, both halves, but mostly the Ruby, were defective beyond belief, much like the Pearl. Then it hit her. They were all defects. This was a colony of defects, of... traitors! The Amethyst was puny and emotional, same emotions within the Garnet, and the Steven, it was a brutal creature that ended Rose. The Amethyst shouldn't even be here, she should be in the Kindergarten. Wait...

"Where is the Kindergarten?" Asked Pearl, her eyes snapping to a glossy look.

The Garnet wasn't speaking. _SNAP!_

Two halves popped out of her. Much better, at least Unit 1052's eyes. "Finally. Now, where is Kindergarten?" The Ruby didn't look happy. She summoned her gauntlet, and sent it flying towards Pearl. One clean hit on the side of her head sent the white gem flying out of the room. Fortunately, Unit 1052 didn't see evidence of gem cracks, only damage to her form. Internal damage, if her imminent observations were correct.

"Pearl, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" Began Ruby. She and Sapphire quickly refused into Garnet, as if that defective form would comfort her somehow. But she didn't want to hear anything else. She didn't need to. Unit 1052 needed to flee from this defective colony, and these defective memories cropping up in her head. The dreams, they boiled in her mind, spurred on by a vague memory of this place.

She saw the pod, and she saw it light at her presence. It was an escape pod, and now, Unit 1052 needed to flee. _Kindergarten._ Rang out her programming. She didn't need permission from "Steven", it was her duty to Pink Diamond to operate Kindergarten. Maybe she could report them there. Pearl hopped into the pod, and settled it on the warp pad. _Planet Sol-3, Kindergarten._ A light enveloped the pod, and she was gone, leaving only Steven, Garnet and Amethyst staring at the warp pad.

 _In the pod.._

Unit 1052 saw a glimmering dust fall from her head. Her body was slowly degenerating over the damage. _No... Stay together!_

A brief flash of something, as her form began to glow, getting reabsorbed into her gem. The same Pearl, at a much later date perhaps, standing over by the corner, watching a small chubby human present Rose with a banquet of flowers and a song. Human courtship perhaps? Whatever it was, Unit 1052 could feel the defective hate and jealously slipping off the Pearl. _Such a fool, to doubt her master's wishes. She was probably trying to blend in, but this Pearl will ruin the disguise._

Then, Rose said to the human. "Greg.. I have to tell you something." Said Rose. "I.." She seemed not to notice the Pearl when she looked around. "I want to have a child." The Pearl shouted and screamed at the human, and at Rose. They shouted, and argued, while the Amethyst huddled on the far edge of the room, ignored. Anger, rejection, sadness, regret, cowardice. Why would any defective want this type of hard life, plagued with emotion?

A snap back to reality, her form relapsing, reforming. Why would any defective want to live? What would give them meaning? She knew what gave herself meaning. Following orders. Being told what to do and how to behave. It gave her purpose to serve her master. Why would the Pearl argue with her master's wishes? Such is a mark of defect. In the cold hard glass of the Pod, she got a first good look at herself.

Her Pearl was misshapen, too tall. Her limbs scrawny, her nose too long. Just like.. _The defective Pearl!_ It made sense now. She was repurposed, and she knew what she was repurposed for, now at the Kindergarten. Gazing upon the dormant Injectors, she knew what she had to do.

She needed to rebuild the Kindergarten.

Everything was fine. Everything was going fine.

 _Meanwhile.._

Peridot felt herself reform. Her body shimmered, before reforming in nearly the same state, except her arms and legs had to be constructed by light instead of cybernetics. The Pearl must have obeyed her programming and freed her! Except, instead of Pearl, all she saw was the fusion, Garnet. Oh great.

"Where is her memory?" Said Garnet. Peridot must have taken out Pearl's memories for something like this to happen.

Peridot screamed, and started to run away when Amethyst tied her up. Without her cybernetics, she felt clumsy, and powerless against the whip's tightening grasp. "I-I didn't remove her memory, I overwrote it with the factory default, with a few added additions." Said Peridot. "But somebody messed with my stuff, and it all got janked up." Peridot glared at Amethyst. "NOW LET ME GO! OR DEFORM ME! I DON'T CARE!" Panic was quickly building in the green gem.

"Is there any way we could reverse this?" Said Garnet. A few distant futures began to show hopeful gleams in the darkness, but her hopes were quickly smudged by Peridot.

"No, you can't." Peridot said. "You and the Steven destroyed the machine's datapanels, and I'm not going to stoop so low as to help you clods get your defective Pearl back."

"Have it your way." Said Garnet, her gauntlet hitting Peridot square in the chest, through the whip and onto the ground. She shivered for a second, before collapsing her form. She could have taken more damage, but she retreated into her gem anyways. No point in trying to run away now.

Garnet adjusted her shades again. Now it was time to find Pearl. "Kindergarten. That's where Pearl went." There was only one path that Pearl's programming could follow right now. Amethyst gulped, and prepared herself for what was on the other side of the warp. Whatever was going on in there, wasn't good.

 _In the Kindergarten..._

 _Yes, everything is going good._ Thought Unit 1052. The Kindergarten Injectors were in horrid disrepair, but with a few quickly repairs with the ship (Which turned out to be very useful, if a bit complex. It was definitely state-of-the-art technology) _._ A horrid, defective thought crossed her mind as she was about to activate the Injector she had been working on for the last hour. _This will hurt everything on this planet, and it would hurt Steven. I should stop this!_

No, she was better than that. That remaining strand of "Pearl" attached to her was a vague memory. She had to turn this on, for Homeworld, for Pink Diamond! Who cared about the life on this miserable hunk of rock, particularly that Steven creature that took away Rose Quartz. A shudder and a pause later, she pressed the button to shock the repaired Injector, turning it on. Organs glowed at the Injector pierced the earth, digging up a gem planted there a long, long time ago.

A noise sounded behind her, a Warp Pad noise. "I advise you to quit interfering." Said Unit 1052. "Pink Diamond certainly won't be happy." This planet must have a Communication Hub or something of the sorts. Getting a hold of Pink Diamond should be simple.

Amethyst stared at the active Injector, which bored into the Earth. "PEARL! WHAT THE-" Amethyst couldn't even finish as a brutal rage overtook her. Amethyst summoned her whip. Unit 1052 jumped out of the Pod as it was flung into one of the stony ridges of the Kindergarten.

"I am not equipped for fighting. Please regulate your behavior." Said Unit 1052. Why was the Amethyst so mad? Maybe another defect, another flawed emotion. Unit 1052 elegantly leaped over a slash of the whip. She couldn't fight, she could only summon her weapon when her programming said, and her programming said only to protect her master and the Kindergarten. The Garnet, fused again, shot her gauntlets at the Injector. Pearl quickly summoned her spear as a reflex, knocking the gauntlets off-course.

"Pearl, if you don't stop, we'll have to defeat you." Said Garnet. Not a moment to even think, as Amethyst's whip wrapped itself tightly around Pearl. "Amethyst stop!" A thick fog came over the area, obscuring Unit 1052 as she began to try and wriggle out of the whip. It didn't stop Amethyst from blindly throwing Pearl into the Injector in a fit of rage. A loud _CLANK_ was heard as Pearl's body smacked into the Injector.

Sudden silence. No quips about how "Pearls were not suited for combat" or "You are interfering with my work". Just silence for the longest time, as the fog cleared. Amethyst felt regretful and uneasy. A blow that strong could have cracked or even broken a gem.

And sure enough, as the fog cleared, laid a Pearl gem. Garnet picked up to get a closer look at the gem.

It was cracked.


	5. Chapter 5: Breaking Down

_Pain... It envelops me. Where? A Kindergarten my program says. A servant class gem was to help me, but I am alone._

 _Something isn't right. I'm alone. Why am I alone? Why.. do I feel weird. My form is corrupt, my gem a mess of emotions, locked beneath the earth for thousands of years, alive, waiting to see the sun. But now that I see the sunlight, all I want to do is tear it apart._

 _I lift a my tail, a black stinger on the tip on the crystalline tail. Where? Who released me from the earth? A large, smooth chunk of Onyx rested firmly between my two long fangs. Eight legs jerked me forward, against my will. I was fading, losing control..._

 _To where? A force, a corrupt program compels me to more gems. I need to fight._

The corrupted Oynx came of the hole, and ran with all it's might. It's fangs craving the sweet taste of gems.

 _In Unit 1052's mind..._

Unit 1052 felt something deeply wrong. A crack in the gem, slowing her regeneration more than normal. Unit 1052 felt on the edge of a breakdown. The memories were to begin any second, she could feel it. Whenever she rested for even a second, it came back. And it did. Again. This time, she was fighting, fighting a much stronger gem than herself. The big gem ran to toward Rose, her axe lifted high. The axe didn't even reach Rose's shield yet as she jumped in front of the blow, poofing her in the process.

 _Stupid defective Pearl, Rose could've handled that gem. You want to feel important to somebody, but you are to NOBODY!_ Shouted Unit 1052, or at least that's what she wanted to shout. Nobody would ever care about a Pearl, since Pearls were nothing but service-drones. Then why did she feel so.. important? Special? Defective, rang a dark voice in her mind. Defective is dangerous, look at what she did. She could have gotten herself killed for no reason, an illogical death with little gain.

A scene cut to a peaceful day, when band music started to play far away, yet loud enough it could be heard by the beach. Pearl, Rose and Amethyst rested by the shore, as the music of the woodwinds drifted across the air. Rose Quartz, always a fan of music (although Unit 1052 wasn't exactly sure why she knew that), held her hand out to Pearl. "Do you want to dance?" She said.

Unit 1052 could feel the Pearl hastily grab her hand, twirling and coming closer until they were inches away from each other. The Pearl's heart skipped a beat again, that damned feeling overtaking logic, overtaking programming. Love and grief. The Pearl's defectiveness had put her in the torrent of emotion, and whenever love came, there would be twice as many sad ones. Why not stick to programming, neutral is better than this confusing mess?

The Pearl blushed. _Don't._ She leaned in. _Don't._ And she kissed Rose as they began to fuse. _No, this is a new level of defective, of WRONG! THIS IS WRONG, THIS-_ It was drowned out by the sudden feeling of love, and the soft voice of Rose that dominated the fusion. The rather tall fusion towered over the tiny little creature that stood before her. "Do you want a lift?" Said Rainbow Quartz, reaching for Amethyst, who jumped into her arms. A sense of motherly love filled the fusion, carrying Amethyst in her arms.

There was a fast blur next, a new scene, and instead, the Pearl was holding Steven in her arms. "He looks so much like her. Aw, he's so cute!" She said, holding him close. It was the Steven's first birthday, and everybody had shown up. The defective Pearl undeniably loved the little Steven, even if a hint of resentment was present. Unit 1052 felt herself push back some personality trying to shine through.

 _Disgusting, fawning over such a blessing- NO, disgrace as a hybrid! An impure, wonderful, defective, caring gem! He's even more valuable and worthless than you-_ But Unit 1052 couldn't stay mad for long, as a glowing light opened to the world.

She was regenerating.

 _In the Crystal Temple..._

Pearl's gem began to glow, and once again the form reverted back to default. The form shivered with a glitch before it finally let Pearl loose. Steven slowly walked up to her, unsure of whether he could trust Pearl, or whether Unit 1052 would try to kill him. Garnet stood by him for protection, while Amethyst was nowhere to be seen.

Pearl's eyes opened, pinning on Steven and the gems in front of her. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked even thinner than usual. As she stood up, Steven gasped. There was a hole in the middle of her chest, only ribs made of light visible through the hole, no organs, no nothing. It didn't seem to bother Pearl at first, but every moment proved to be painful. "GET AWAY!" She screamed, hiding her cracked gem between her fingers. Emotions were confusing, defective a-and they were starting to show up again.

"Pearl, we can help you, please just come with us!" Said Steven. Pearl turned around to run, it was the only thing her program could think of. Garnet quickly leapt beside her. Garnet lifted her gauntlets around Pearl, trapping her in a bubble. Muffled screams came from the bubble.

"Pearl, calm down!" Said Garnet. A few more hisses and screams, and Pearl (or as her programming said, Unit 1052) calmed down. The soft lull of the program returned to her mind, temporarily drowning out the growing voice of the defective Pearl. A order obeyed quite finely if she did say so herself.

"We're taking you to Rose's healing fountain." Said Garnet, stepping onto a Warp Pad before finally letting Pearl down. Pearl put her hand back over her gem, as a radiating headache took over her feeling. She let out a growl between clenched teeth.

"How do I know I.. can trust.. you cracked my.. gem?" The crack was slowly spreading, another creak indicating another crack forming. She was going to shatter if she didn't get there soon, but she didn't trust these Crystal Gems. These violent defects.

The Steven came up next to her. "Please Pearl, trust us." He said, placing his hand on her chest, about as far up as the short boy could reach. Unit 1052 wanted to protest, but it felt as though for a moment somebody else was speaking.

"Alright." Said Pearl, ruffling the boy's hair against Unit 1052's will. She immediately retracted her hand in disgust. What was THAT!? Some _loving_ urge in her made her do that, some defective emotion. She felt like a mother to the boy for just a moment, and it disgusted her. Do not let such defective emotions become you, keep your eyes open for their devious plot.

The warp stream quickly bolted them to Rose's healing fountain. Pearl's form glitched again, this time her disheveled hair becoming long enough to cloak the entirety of her being underneath a cloak of hair. Her entire body became shivering in the glitches, and one of her feet became a hand, making her limp even more obvious. "You look kind of like Amethyst." Said Steven, noting the hair. Pearl hissed.

"Defective.. Idiot." She said, almost falling down as she limped toward the fountain. Why wasn't the Amethyst here? Did she crack her gem? Defective idiot indeed.

"Pearl, do you need help?" Said Steven, watching struggle to get back up. "No.. fine." Said Pearl, clutching her gem even harder. Garnet came and bubbled Pearl again, walking towards the fountain. Pearl peeked through the mop of hair covering her, looking at the fountain. It was Rose Quartz, unmistakable in the visage.

"Take... me.. back." Said Unit 1052, her hands clutching into fists and hitting the sides of the bubble. She tried to summon her weapon, but the only thing that happened was a dull glow followed by a sharp pain in her head. "Ugh.. Take.. me.. away from.. that!" She said, turning her head away from the fountain. A defective flood of emotions edged about the core of her being. A Pearl is better dead than defective.

Another glitch, and Unit 1052 found herself unable to speak correctly. " Mxvw ohw ph glh!" She said, hitting the side of the bubble again. It was useless though, as she was drop into the fountain, still fighting and screaming. Then, there was a brief silence, any outside noise blocked by the thick water of the fountain. Her Pearl was healed, but in only one way. Unit 1052 shapeshifted into an aquatic creature from her memories, feeling safe in the waters. Away from the gems who cracked her.

Pearl wasn't coming back up. Garnet peered into the water, to see a white koi swimming through the water, darting away from her. Perhaps Pearl did have some memories left, to remember that time when the gems all went to the aquarium in the city with Steven. Such a seemingly small event in her life, yet Pearl seemed to have remembered it.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Came a voice breaking through the water. Steven backed away slowly, as the fish in the fountain splashed a wave of water at them.

"Pearl, get out of the water." Said Garnet, watching Pearl swim back and forth as if she couldn't decide where to go.

"I can't trust you, I can't trust myself, I'm becoming defective again and I almost died!" Shouted Unit 1052, shape-shifting into a crane. She wanted to be anything but herself right now, a fuzzy memory in her head blinding out what was right in front of her. Another cracked gem.. not too long ago..

Slowly but surely, the program started to return, but the memories of Rose, Steven and (oddly enough) Amethyst flooded her mind as she stood in the fountain. That defective gem, who cracked her gemstone. Probably still would, if she returned to their temple.

Garnet paused. "We need Amethyst to speak with her." She said, heading to the Warp Pad.


	6. Chapter 6: Defecting

_Inside the temple.._

Amethyst was slouched on a pile of her stuff, when the door to her room slid open. Amethyst looked over her shoulder, and saw Garnet standing there, at the entrance to her room. The tiny bit of annoyance that Garnet was going into her room without knocking was overshadowed by the plague of guilt that hung over her entire room like a fog. "Amethyst." Began Garnet.

"I KNOW! I-I didn't know w-what I was doing and-" Said Amethyst, curling up into a ball. Even if Pearl wasn't acting like herself, hurting her felt just the same, a dread pit of guilt. Normally, it was a bit of rough-housing, with the odd mistake of serious damage, it was all in good fun, even Pearl hit Amethyst a bit hard sometimes, but when she threw Pearl into the Injector, it was blind rage. The fog clouded her vision, and her anger clouded her mind. And now Pearl could be dead. "She's not dead, is she?"

"She's ok." Said Garnet. " But you need to speak to her. She needs to know you care about her too, it will help her remember." Garnet opened Amethyst's door, and stepped next to the warp. Amethsyt reluctantly followed, and the Warp stream enveloped her.

 _At Rose's Fountain..._

It had been 7 hours and 21 milliseconds since Garnet had gone away from the fountain. Unit 1052 thought she liked it better when Garnet was gone. A bit of a clearing in the program, the last hint of defective fighting less hard. It was time to get re-adjusted. Her behavior as of her.. glitches has been very defective. The Pearl must have been taking advantage of the scenery and the crack. A weak point in the mind, where defects could flourish. Many have been lost to such defects.

The Steven boy was annoying, constantly trying to talk to her. No human shall command a Pearl, for even a lowest servant of the low couldn't bear to be serve such a disgusting organic creation. Gems were pristine, their bodies made of light, and "humans" were gross, measly flesh-bags. Yet something in her couldn't bear to see the boy so sad, something in her couldn't send him away. He left on his own as the moon rose in the sky, defeated.

He said something before he left: "I lost one of my mothers, I don't want to lose another..." Unit 1052 felt something want to reach out, to comfort the boy, but a thick layer of firm programming stayed heavy. Still in her crane form, she had sat upon the statue, on it's shoulder, watching the Steven leave.

Was the defective Pearl somewhat of a mother to the boy? Perhaps that is why she stayed. Why she stayed defective, why risking such grief for just a hint of joy. It was pathetic, risking the delicate balance of Gem society for such mortal enjoyments as joy. It was what the defective Amethyst did, not a pristine and now corrected Pearl like herself did. Speaking of the Amethyst, where was she?

Interrupting her thoughts was a automatic program. _Time to clean up Gem Site #19 on Earth._

 _At the Warp Pad..._

Atop the fountain sat a sliver of light, a gem in it's forehead. At least that's what Pearl looked like. Amethyst hadn't seen her look this thin ever. Pearl was obviously overextending herself, her gem simply not meant for this amount of stress. Her form seemed.. unstable to say least. Various Holo-Pearls milled about, plucking any weed they saw near the fountain.

"Pearl?" Said Amethyst, coming over to the fountain. Unit 1052 stood there for a second, zone out, before her eyes snapped to Amethyst. A look of both fear and anger crossed the gem's face, before smoothing out to a proper neutral.

"Do not interrupt my concentration." Said Unit 1052. Amethyst sat by the side of the fountain.

"Hey, P, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I got a bit carried away at the Kindergarten." Said Amethyst. "But do you understand why I was mad? Do you know what you were doing!? Do you know what you were doing was wrong!?" Amethyst was fighting back her tears, her hands clenched into tiny balls. The Kindergarten was little more than a giant meat-grinder for life, a guilt that would always be with her.

Unit 1052 stopped. Did she know what she was doing? Was she just towing along a program with motives even she didn't know? No, she was in control. She was calm. Everything was fine, it had to be. Homeworld was never wrong, and so Kindergartens can't be. "No. It isn't." Said Pearl. "Code 1942 is a standard procedure engaged to help gem society flourish. What you did was wrong, interrupting this balance."

"Ugh, snap out of it! What is wrong with you!?" Said Amethyst. "Pearl, if your still in there somewhere, I'M SORRY! I-I never meant anything to harm you, I never w-wanted this THING to take your body." Unit 1052 grasped her head, her gem, one of the Holo-Pearls disappearing.

"Can't you remember? Anything? For Rose? For Steven?" She said. "Can't you remember how I cracked my gem here? You and Garnet were so worried!"

A thought came to her head, but she dismissed it. "M-maybe.." She said, her voice weak.

Something wet was falling down her nose. Tears. A sure sign of defectiveness, a grounds for deletion. "Don't kill me. I s-shouldn't.. Pearls shouldn't.. emotions. You should kill me, Pearls only exist to serve.. and I failed to serve you." Said Unit 1052, hiding her head in her arms. She should be dead, she was impossible to fix. For some gems, reprogramming only worked so long. Those gems were killed. She needed to be killed. But she didn't want it. She wanted to stay with them.

"I-I.. Send me to the Crushing Chambers. Perhaps my shards could be of use. Because I'm no use to you alive."

By this point, all of the Holo-Pearls had disappeared, leaving only a shimmer in the air. Pearl knocked her head against the fountain in frustration. Amethyst put her hand to her mouth: "Is this what Homeworld thinks of you? Of all the other Pearls?" She said. Pearl had told her much before, about Homeworld, but she never realized how horrid it must have been for the lower class. Pearl always had a way of sugar-coating it.

"Rightfully so." Said Unit 1052. The memories were already back, and soon the defective Pearl would try and struggle again. The program would of course win, but it didn't change this feeling 1052 would feel every time the memories welled up. Trapped in this torrent of emotion, she paused. "Maybe."

"Pearl, you can express yourself, even if I don't like that sometimes. Just because you are different doesn't mean you can't be yourself. Steven, Garnet and I all love you for who you are. Don't let them make you feel like garbage." Amethyst loved Pearl like a sister, even if she couldn't admit it.

Unit 1052 sat up. Not everything was fine, not here, not on Homeworld. "Affirmative." She could barely help herself though. "I will return, but do not interfere." The tall pale gem stepped onto the warp, her moves rigid, but with a hint of sadness, a smooth grief over the battle in her mind.

Amethyst smiled. Maybe the process of healing could finally take place, in not just body, but mind.

 _Outside the Temple..._

Yes, it was here. The gems. Onyx opened it's rocky pincers. The corrupted scorpion opened it's mouth, letting a black venom fall from it's gem. Plants withered as the scorpion drooled at the prospect of devouring life. But more than that, it wanted to fight. The temple now in view, the scorpion-like monster grinned as much as it could in this form.

Soon, it would be on the move, and it would crush the gems that let it loose. It's shiny red eyes caught sight of a creature. A tiny pale black-haired creature. With a gemstone in it's belly. Another gem...


	7. Chapter 7: Fear

It wasn't a peaceful night. She couldn't bring herself to say Unit 1052 anymore. It didn't sound right. Just 1052 would have to do for now. 1052 looked at the rigid wooden floors, felt them stained to their very deepest fiber with love and care, and she wondered who this defective Pearl was exactly. Sure, she had some memories, some vestigial defective personality clinging onto her (clinging seemed to be what that personality did best, she hissed in her mind.) but it wasn't the same as that voice that came every now and again.

A few more flashes of something in her mind, a few memories of war, and she couldn't help but climb up to the Steven's room. His very presence was comforting in an odd way, although her proper side wanted to hate the boy. That side wanted to tear this unholy abomination of gem and flesh apart, just like it wanted to separate that shameful display of a Garnet. She resisted the urge though, and stood watching the boy sleep in silence. Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a deep breath.

Garnet was at the entrance of the temple, talking to Amethyst. Pearl crept up on them, to hear their conversation:

"I talked to her, and I think she's getting better! I think she might have remembered something!" Said Amethyst, somewhat excited. That little bit of Pearl she saw was promising. Even if they get on each other's nerves, Amethyst didn't know what she'd do without all of the family here.

Garnet didn't respond.

"Garnet?"

"..." Garnet stood still, only her third eye open, ruthlessly scanning every single possibility. Yearning, looking for the light in such a dark situation.

"Garnet, you don't think she'll be this way forever?" Said Amethyst.

"Perhaps. She needs her space, she will figure this out for herself. Whether she comes back or not is.. hard to predict." Said Garnet. so many possibilities, yet this time, not all of them were bad. Not all was a good hope for Sapphire, but not all was a unsatisfactory answer for Ruby, who had gotten most of her fiery rage out by now but now felt it creeping back at the possibility of Pearl being a Homeworld drone forever.

"What will we do if.. you know..?" Said Amethyst.

Garnet turned around, her sharp gaze catching 1052's. _Run._ Was all 1052 could think as she dashed away. The program in her head repeated itself in a broken record as she quickly started to panic at the prospect of being caught. She let out a startled yelp as Garnet shooed her away.

"Pearl, we aren't going to hurt you." Said Garnet. "But please give us some privacy."

1052 was seemingly gone from the room, and Garnet continued the conversation. Garnet leaned in.

"We'll have to bubble her with Peridot . We can't risk her catching corruption, but she is... unstable right now." Said Garnet. Amethyst frowned, and bunched up her shoulders. Garnet continued on. "But we'll heal her and perhaps even Peridot one day. Steven's counting on us."

Amethyst nodded, albeit sadly as she went into her room. 1052's eyes narrowed. They were not going to put her into one of those tiny bubbles, and even if by some chance that defectiveness never returned, she would not let them.

Something began to stir behind her, and 1052 turned around, staring at the boy. Such an odd thing that organic creatures need to spend several hours asleep. Not moving, not doing anything, leaving themselves completely and utterly helpless. Even when they awoke, they still seemed.. weak, for a while at least.

1052's cold blue eyes observed the life-form, her gaze sharp and tactical. She could kill the boy right now, while he was too sleepy and weak to do anything. Kill him and be over with it. Her hands reached for her forehead, unsure.

Upon waking, the Steven screamed. 1052 recoiled, her hands curling into tiny balls. "I'm sorry, what did I do?!" She said, almost forced out like all the other times. _What the jank is with this Pearl, the Rose and the Steven?!_ Screamed 1052 internally, but ultimately succumbing to the apology. She was perhaps being somewhat socially unacceptable, staring at another with such intent and perhaps even cruelty.

"Get away from me!" Said the boy, his eyes quickly filling with tears. 1052 reached out for him as he ran outside. 1052 lower her hands, and shivered. She was being terrible recently. What she said, what she did, it didn't feel like herself. It felt terrible, it was a conflict inside. What perhaps was she going to do to the boy in his slumber, while the program buzzed with such hate. She noticed something, a small defect in her form. A tiny hole still remained in the center of her chest.

She was unsure of what to do about it now. But falling to her programming was no longer an option. She wanted to be defective again.

 _Outside.._

Steven could not mistake that grasping for the forehead for anything but an attack. This stranger had taken over Pearl's body. And it wanted him dead. Home felt awful, Garnet and Amethyst were unresponsive and sad, and Pearl was... Somewhere else. He needed something to clear his head, a shelter from the chaos Peridot had caused. Maybe he should go to Dad's for a few days, maybe have a sleepover with Connie. Anything to stay away from Pearl, who wanted to kill him now.

Unfortunately, Pearl wasn't only thing that wanted him dead right now. A shiny black creature moved through the rocks, it's fangs clicking and it's barbed tail poised. The creature was outside again, and now was the perfect time to strike.

Steven tapped on his phone. _Connie, Pearl's lost her memory and is trying to kill me, can I stay over at your house for a while?_ Steven began to write. He knew Connie said to always tell him when stuff like this happened, but.. he really didn't want her to worry, or worse yet, try to fight Pearl.

A giant black scorpion burst it's way through a bunch of scattered rocks on the beach. Steven let out a gasp as it's barb flew in his direction. Luckily, he shielded just in time, to watch the barb bounce off of his bubble-shield. The scorpion, it's gem firmly between it's fangs, let out a shrieking roar, attracting the attention of the gems. Well, Garnet at least.

Garnet leapt from the temple's entrance, summoning her gauntlets, and went to punch the scorpion in the face. However, the creature grasped Garnet's arm with it's pincers, and flung her across the beach. Garnet shot her gauntlets, buffeting the creature away before it could attack Steven again, but this creature was hardy.

It snapped at Steven's shield, decimating it. The Onyx Scorpion chittered as Garnet angrily re-summoned her gauntlets and punched it again. Still strong, the creature grabbed Garnet with one of it's pincers, and lifted it's barb.

"Garnet!" Yelled Steven, as it stung Garnet. After Garnet got over the shock of the blow, she smashed it's pincer, forcing it to drop her. However, Garnet couldn't get back up. The poison was quick, weakening her light's density. The light that made her form got lighter and less lively, as black cracks seeped their way through her form. A poison that would kill any living being only weakened her, but weaken her it did quickly. Garnet struggled to get up, as the Onyx reached for Steven.

Steven summoned his shield, but the force of the scorpion's claws flung him back. The sand flew everywhere, getting in his eyes and mouth. Steven scrambled to his feet, but the Onyx was too fast for him. The scorpion's legs held him down as it raised it's pincers and barbs at the same time, preparing to strike.

Then, it attacked.


	8. Chapter 8: Defective, But Free

Steven's eyes snapped shut, as he let out a scared whimper. He curled into a ball and braced himself for what would surely be his last moment of life. Taking in a final breath, he cursed himself under his breath. He wasn't able to protect Pearl, he wasn't able to protect Garnet, and now he was going to die. He braced himself for the strike, for the venom to burst into his veins, but nothing came. He heard a noise, a brief screech, then cut off.

As he peeked back out, he saw Pearl, her spear in the monster's head, and it's barb stabbed through her stomach. "Pearl?" Said Steven, wiping off his wet eyes before beginning to cry again. The beast hissed, it's pincers dropping onto the beach, as Pearl dug her spear deeper into the creature. The Onyx Scorpion let out a final screech, before it poofed, bright yellow smoke coating the entire beach. A tiny fang-like gem dropped onto the sand.

Black venom began to course through Pearl. "Y-you win, Steven." She said. "I g-guess I do care about you more than some program-" She poofed, a white smoke curling outward from where her body used to be. A pale oval-shaped gem dropped onto the sand. Garnet, still struggling with the venom herself, slowly came to her feet.

"Steven... are you ok?" Said Garnet, grasping the young boy's shoulder. Steven stood there, perplexed, almost awestricken at the events that had just taken place. He picked up Pearl's gem, watching a fine ivory shimmering dust fall off of the recently-poofed gem.

"Pearl saved me." He said. She was in there after all.

 _Inside 1052's Pearl..._

1052 saw something in her memories she never had before, something this Pearl must have hidden away deeply in her mind. She awoke in an oyster, a fleck of sand given precious life by this creature. A tall blue creature opened up her oyster, and grasped her gem out of the oversized mollusk. Panic flooded the new gem. Where? Why was she torn from her home? The pale blue creature inspected the her gem. Her gem was defective, too long. Saltwater pearls were supposed to be round, perfect and this one was not.

Upon being torn from her safe haven in the oyster's grasp, Pearl felt her body form, light shimmering into a thin, tall and pale humanoid with a gem on her forehead, not much unlike the creature who had torn her from her oyster. "Where am I!? Somebody, help!" Said the Pearl, confused and startled.

The blue creature, whose light blue pearl was completely round, put a hand on her shoulder. "Welcome to Homeworld, White Pearl B9.5, Unit 1052. What is your purpose?" The Pearl gem began to sweat. She.. didn't know what her purpose was. To serve maybe, that's what some base instinct told her? But what? But who? Where? She frowned.

"I-I don't know." Said the Pearl. The blue gem frowned. "Another defective. Please remove Unit 1052 and send to Re-Programming room-" The Pearl didn't exactly know what she was doing, but she knew she must run. Hitting the other gem in the head, the Pearl ran off, without any idea of where to go, or who she was.

The Diamond Guard were not pleases. Their rulers held a vast worldwide city of beautiful crystalline structures, and it was tainted by the presence of something as puny as a defective Pearl. And of course, any taint to their dominion, their perfect rule, must be repurposed, or destroyed. The Pearl was beaten, battered and thrown about until she could not run anymore. She was tied up and brought back to the factory, her fate to be decided soon. However, one did see beauty in that defective Pearl.

Rose Quartz, heir to Pink Diamond and second-in-command, saw the Pearl, tied up and put among the other Pearls, a clear outlier and candidate for re-programming. "I would like this one." She said. Pink Topaz, her guard and trainer, was puzzled by her decision.

"Rose, wouldn't you want a proper Pearl? This one is defective, see the shape and the form. This one is dangerous, I heard from the Diamond Guard, it has an unbreakable will and a torrent of emotion." Said Topaz.

"No, I am sure I want this one." Said Rose. The Pearl almost gasped, surprised at the first act of kindness anybody had given her. Topaz sighed, getting two more proper and perfected Pearls in addition to the defective one that Rose wanted. Pink Diamond would not be happy with Rose bringing such a thing home, but Topaz had to follow Rose's orders. How ever was Rose to become a proper leader if she took in dangers to society like that Pearl?

"You will regret that, Rose. You will soon learn that being a leader requires sacrifice and selection. That Pearl will not serve you well, it needs to be re-programmed first." Said Topaz. The defective Pearl curled her nose in disgust at the muscular pink-red gem.

But serve well the Pearl did do. She was passionate, and she was quick. To Topaz's anger, the Pearl was surprisingly talented, if a bit snobby and disdainful of the other Pearls. The Pearl even followed them to Earth, to operate the new Kindergarten. Rose Quartz loved the little defective Pearl. Yet Pink Topaz couldn't shake the feeling that the defective Pearl was.. off.

 _On Earth.._

Pearl smiled, gazing at the lush green expanse before them. Rose sat next to her, looking upon the beautiful forest. "It's beautiful." Whispered Pearl. "Oh, I'm sorry, I spoke out of line-" Rose laughed, and delicately grabbed Pearls hand. The two hands were almost made to interlock.

"Pearl, we aren't on Homeworld anymore." She said. " You can be free, free to speak and free to feel." Pearl felt it for the first time, but she dare not speak it. A little skip, a little beat missed in the thumping tune of her body's heart. They went out, and saw the wilderness. Pearl was amazed, but Rose had an air of sadness around her.

"What's wrong?" Asked Pearl. She had never seen Rose look as sad and happy at the same time.

"It's all going to die." Whispered Rose Quartz, placing her hand on a tree. She had seen it a dozen times before. A planet of life, followed by death, over and over. Pearl must not know this yet, but Kindergartens destroy life. All of it.

"We can save it, right?" Said Pearl. Rose Quartz gave a worried smile, and patted Pearl on the head.

"Maybe we can." Said Rose Quartz. The next few days, she and Pearl would meet in secret. Everyday, watching the planet lose just a little bit of life. A few blades of grass as the Injectors dug into the ground, a few more as the gem incubated. They would talk, dance and Rose would teach Pearl how fight with a sword. They would never fuse, but every day, Pearl felt just that bit closer. And Rose was proud of the Pearl, her spirit and her surprising determination. Unknown to the Pearl, they were going to change this cycle of death.

 _Many days later..._

Until, one day, she found the Pearl doing something forbidden with another. Dancing, _fusing._ Two Pearls, one elegant, defective and fluid, and the other confused and rigid. "How do you know this? I thought fusing was not for Pearls." Said the proper, sphere-gem Pearl.

"Rose taught me this dance. I've never fused before, so I th-" Said the defective Pearl, twirling the other around. A sudden stomping noise shattered the silence. Topaz was here.

 _Rose, she likes that thing too much. This has to stop._ Topaz grabbed the defective Pearl by the arm, watching the other one scamper off like the little cowards that Pearls were. So many rebellious these days, but none so worthless and defective as this thing. It was barely even a gem.

"I don't why Rose taught you that, but you better stop." Said Topaz, growling at the Pearl who simply shivered in response. "Pearls belong at the bottom, and those at the bottom are not allowed to fuse. So don't go thinking that Homeworld's rules don't apply to you here. I'm telling Rose Quartz about your treason, and tomorrow you will be in the re-programming rooms." She was going to tell Rose about all of these terrible gems who rebel and need to be reprogrammed. She was going to also talk with Pink Diamond, as Topaz didn't quite trust Rose with these decisions anymore. Something strange was going on underneath Topaz's nose, and she was going to find out what...

 _In the morning.._

The next morning, Topaz arrived to re-programmed the Pearl, as well as a fused gem that didn't want to unfuse. They said they fused for love. Pathetic. Fusion was for combat and combat only. Why were so many gems forgetting what fusion was? _Oh well_. Back to the job, Pink Diamond's orders. They will all be fine and orderly soon.

However, when Topaz arrived, something was wrong. More than half of the operations crew was gone, the Pearl and the fusion with them. Topaz drew her weapon, a flail with a spiked ball at the end. What the-? Topaz heard talking, a calm and soothing voice. _Rose._ Topaz crept along the greying ridges, following the voice.

Then she saw them. Saw all of them sitting by the edge of the Kindergarten, on the green plant life of this planet, talking. A bunch of swords were impaled in the ground. It would have been nothing but a group of cowardly defectives, if it weren't for... Rose! Rose was here with them! Did she know about their defects!? Topaz decided to eavesdrop on this, a sinking feeling beginning in the gem's gut.

"Don't you see it in the ground? This planet is dying, it is being killed. For so long, we haven't questioned this way, but now we should. Are we going to let them kill another planet? More importantly, are we going to let them kill our spirit? Kill our love? Kill us for war? Will we be taken in chains, bound and gagged, to become another cog in the machine? No, we will rise. We will rise and protect this planet, protect each other. We are not defective. We are free." Rose finished, and they all were still. Then, the Pearl rose to her feet, and drew a sword from the ground.

They all rose. One by one.

And Pink Topaz screamed, throwing her flail at the Pearl. Rose blocked it with her shield, a loud noise radiating from the shield. Many more guards, the Topazes and the Agates, came running, holding them down, tying them up. "Rose.." Said Topaz, sweating as she grabbed the Pearl by the neck. "What are you doing!?" Rose held her hands out, trying to fight back but was quickly pushed back by a giant Agate fusion. She was helpless to watch as her friends, Garnet, Pearl and the rest, were beaten and bound by the chains summoned by the Topazes.

 _Don't you see the ground? This planet is dying, it is being killed._

Pearl watched as they fell one by one, all of them. She cried, thinking of the times her and Rose would come to this very spot, practicing. How they would talk, about saving the precious creatures of this planet. It all seemed like a distant fantasy now. Pearl's feet scrapped against the dying grasses, the dry bushes, as they were hauled forward, a death march of sorts.

 _For so long, we haven't questioned this way, but now we should._

Pearl wished she had been born perfect. To never have been so defective, so wrong. Re-programming was dangerous, she would never survive it. These were the last moments of her life. Born defective. Die defective. Defect. Worthless. Nothing. Rose would never care for you. You are defective. Defect. Worthless. Nothing.

 _Are we going to let them kill another planet?_

The light of the Facet was coming into view. Pearl shut her eyes, as she was yanked along.

 _More importantly, are we going to let them kill our spirit?_

Pearl looked at herself, her shoulders sloped and her eyes wet with stinging tears. Defective. Told that since birth, it was burned into her mind. She was broken, and nothing could fix her. But would she go silently into this quiet death? A burn started in her chest, burning away the frost from her body.

 _Kill our love?_

The fusion, her name Garnet, was split, her halves bound apart. They tried to get closer, but two gems held them apart. They were heartbroken, Ruby screaming profanities and trying to break the chains around her. Sapphire, meanwhile, tried to assure things were ok, but even she appeared to be losing hope.

 _Kill us for war?_

Many other gems struggled fiercely, worry and despair running high. The Amethysts, the Emeralds, the Ambers, the Onyxes and all the others.

 _Will we be taken in chains, bound and gagged, to become another cog in the machine?_

"No." Whispered Pearl, her feet brushing against the cold steel floors of the Facet. She felt the chains brush against each other, against all the other prisoners. She felt the cold despair of Homeworld, the somber and stale air. Everything was still for just that moment.

 _No, we will rise. We will rise and protect this planet, protect each other._

Pearl yanked her chains, sending one of the Topazes falling over. A new Amber, seeing the display, copied the move, sending the guard flying across the room, poofing her. The chains around Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire and a few others disappeared. A fusion, Garnet, now stood to fight, punching a Topaz into the wall. More and more Ambers were gathering, watching the fight. They flung Topazes across the room with their minds, laughing all the while as the chains broke. Pearl had started a chain reaction.

More and more of the guards fell, as Ambers and Emeralds and all the rest broke free. They beat them back, and ran out into the wide world.

 _We are not defective._

I am not defective.

 _We are free._

I am free.

I am Pearl.

 _Back in the present day..._

A shimmering light burst out from Pearl's gem. The other gems looked up, an expression between fear and hope on their faces. A brilliant light cloaked itself around her and took shape. Pearl emerged, her cloths a light shade of turquoise, with a light green-yellow poncho-like shawl on her. Her pants were knee-length and a shade of pink, and her ballet shoes a blue-green. She stood tall, remembering who she was. She was Pearl, and she was more than a servant.

The gems waited in anticipation. "Hello." Said Pearl. She eagerly hugged Steven, and Garnet and Amethyst joined in, relief flooding over the gems. "I'm sorry. I forgot who I was, but now I know. And I know that I will protect you all." She said, closing her eyes.

"It's ok, Pearl. Welcome back." Garnet said, hugging Pearl tightly.

"We've missed you, P. You took so long we thought you were dead!" Said Amethyst, smiling widely as she let Pearl go. It was a rough couple of weeks, between Pearl, the fountain and the gem monster, but everything was calm now, as tears freely flowed between the gems in this hug.

Pearl smiled, wiping her face free of tears and sweat. She knew what being on Earth meant now, why Rose chose this planet. She could be independent now, she could be free to be she wanted to be. She was not defective. She was free.

Free to love.

Free to care.

And free to be herself.


	9. Epilogue

Pearl sat in her room, atop one of the giant pillars of water. Silent, unmoving, alone with her thoughts. Thinking, about what it meant to be Pearl. Not a Pearl, but herself. Because she was no longer just a Pearl.

Rose and Garnet were right about the Earth, it's greatest gift that of freedom. Pearl would never doubt Rose, never question but in that way she soon found herself under a new self-imposed rule, out of instinct or blind faith she did not know quite yet. But now, she felt a servant to no one, free. She was finally able to see the gift of Earth, freedom. The gift of Earth was not one the gems ought to keep to themselves. No, and she knew where to find another, bound by rules and restrictions like she once was.

Pearl leapt off of the watery spire with a single powerful stride. A fine light blue glow radiated from her gem as the door to The Burning Room opened. Delicately tip-toeing her way in, Pearl grabbed a green gem out of an isolated bubble. Careful not to be seen, she sprinted back into her own room, the gem in hand. It began to glow.

 _Peridot's gem began to glow..._

Peridot's form shimmer and shook as she dropped onto the cold waters of the Pearl's room. Had the Pearl finally obeyed it's programming? Hmmph, about time. Peridot straightened her back. "Drone, tell me where the Escape Pod is." Peridot said, acting much more.. formal (If it wasn't Pearl she was talking to, then there might've be laughing right now).

"Peridot." Began Pearl. "I didn't come here to send you back to Homeworld." She projected an image from her gem, one of Beach City. Pearl barely bit back a bout of anger a being called "drone", but she had to be more reserved right now. Well, she was still expecting her apology.

"Then why did you release me, clod?" Said Peridot, shifting as if she expected to be poofed again. What she did get was a swift punch to the face, knocking her over. Peridot clutched her painful nose, and her cracked visor.

"Apologize for brainwashing me and we're even, for now." Said Pearl. She was mad, but not overly so now that it's been so long. An air of tension filled the room.

"Sorry, you defective clod." Said Peridot, slowly getting back up, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"I'll get a proper apology later." Said Pearl, crossing her arms. "But I've released you for a reason." She contuined, her gem projecting Beach City, the Strawberry Battlefield and many other beautiful places on Earth. "You are defective as well, and you don't have to be bound by Homeworld's rules." No normal Peridot unit would be as... eccentric as Peridot was.

"Defective!? Me!? NEVER!" Screamed Peridot, imitating Pearl's arm-crossing gesture. It must be something these Earth-things do to imply something about whatever. Pearl tapped Peridot's gem, seeing the green gem react with a sudden jolt.

"But you're not following your program, are you?"

"N-no, I.." Peridot stammered. "Y-Yellow Diamond would kill me if she found out."

"It's ok. I was where you were once too." Began Pearl. "We protect you, you just need to accept."

"Accept what?"

"You are free on Earth, and you can be who you want to be."

Peridot slowly grabbed Pearl's hand. Peridot's grasp was hard and cold, desperate and harsh.

"H-Homeworld is coming. They'll kill you and they'll kill me for failing." Peridot had an uneasy smile on her face, a mixture of excitement and dread.

"Then we will protect this Earth. We will be more than servants.

We'll be free."

 _Not defective._


End file.
